THE FUTURE OF THE WEST INDIES 405 



trade relations with these people. While the reciprocity 

 laws which were passed al his instigation were in force for 

 a few years prior t<> 1882, the prosperity of the West 

 Indies revived, and American commerce grew as it had 

 never grown before. Their abolition, however, quickly 

 reacted npon both parties. 



There can he no donbt that if absolute free trade were 

 established between the West Indies and the United 

 States it would prove mosl beneficial t<> both countries, 

 reviving the agricultural prosperity of the former, and 

 creating a market for the manufactured products and food- 

 stuffs of the latter. In this alone is there any hope for 

 the future of these islands. 



It may be appropriate, before closing this work, to 

 speak a few words concerning methods of seeing the 

 West Indies. Unless you have your own yacht, or can 

 take one of the great ocean liners which in winter make 

 excursions from New York, touching hastily at all of the 

 principal ports, it will be a very difficult matter to get 

 even a perspective of the West Indies in a single tour. 

 But excursion steamers and yachts at their best give little 

 idea of the true inwardness of countries and peoples. If 

 you wish to travel rather than merely tour, you must 

 avail yourself of the tracks of commerce. 



Many steamers leave New York for the AVest Indies, 

 but there is no line which takes in more than a few of the 

 islands. Some of the best go to Cuba and Mexico without 

 touching elsewhere; others only to Jamaica, and thence 



around the isthmian regions and hack to New York ; 

 others go ,,],ly to Haiti. Santo Domingo, or Porto Rico, 

 and these are not lirst-cl.iss. One of the besl companies 

 takes passengers to the Virgin ami Caribbee Islands, or 

 rather to such islands as are not quarantined against one 

 another. The curse of Wesl Indian travel is quarantine. 



The English islands and wisely, loo are usually in 

 quarantine again si ( 1 uha, Haiti, Santo Domingo, Mar- 

 tinique, and Guadeloupe, and it is only in exceptional 



